Tax avoidance

Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. Tax sheltering is very similar, although unlike tax avoidance tax sheltering is not necessarily legal. Tax havens are jurisdictions which facilitate reduced taxes.

Tax mitigation, "tax aggressive", "aggressive tax avoidance" or "tax neutral" schemes generally refer to multi-territory schemes that fall into the grey area between commonplace and well-accepted tax avoidance (such as purchasing municipal bonds in the United States) and evasion, but are widely viewed as unethical, especially if they are involved in profit-shifting from high-tax to low-tax territories and territories recognised as tax havens. Since 1995, trillions of dollars have been transferred from OECD and developing counties into tax havens using these schemes.

Laws known as a General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) statutes which prohibit "tax aggressive" avoidance have been passed in several developed countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Norway, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. In addition, judicial doctrines have accomplished the similar purpose, notably in the United States through the "business purpose" and "economic substance" doctrines established in Gregory v. Helvering and in the UK through the Ramsay case. Though the specifics may vary according to jurisdiction, these rules invalidate tax avoidance which is technically legal but not for a business purpose or in violation of the spirit of the tax code. Related terms for tax avoidance include tax planning and tax sheltering.

Tax avoidance

Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. Tax sheltering is very similar, although unlike tax avoidance tax sheltering is not necessarily legal. Tax havens are jurisdictions which facilitate reduced taxes.

Tax mitigation, "tax aggressive", "aggressive tax avoidance" or "tax neutral" schemes generally refer to multi-territory schemes that fall into the grey area between commonplace and well-accepted tax avoidance (such as purchasing municipal bonds in the United States) and evasion, but are widely viewed as unethical, especially if they are involved in profit-shifting from high-tax to low-tax territories and territories recognised as tax havens. Since 1995, trillions of dollars have been transferred from OECD and developing counties into tax havens using these schemes.

Laws known as a General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) statutes which prohibit "tax aggressive" avoidance have been passed in several developed countries including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Norway, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. In addition, judicial doctrines have accomplished the similar purpose, notably in the United States through the "business purpose" and "economic substance" doctrines established in Gregory v. Helvering and in the UK through the Ramsay case. Though the specifics may vary according to jurisdiction, these rules invalidate tax avoidance which is technically legal but not for a business purpose or in violation of the spirit of the tax code. Related terms for tax avoidance include tax planning and tax sheltering.

Latest News for: Tax avoidance schemes

PHOENIX (AP) — The operator of a Phoenix auto dealership is facing allegations of scheming to avoid paying $100,000 in state and local sales tax... The company and Gutierrez face one count each of fraudulent schemes and artifices and theft and 17 counts of filing false returns. According to the indictment, the dealership underreported the number of cars it sold between January 2015 and July 2016 in order to falsify sales tax returns....

They include five counts of filing false tax returns between 2010 and 2014, four counts of failing to report foreign bank accounts, and nine counts of bank fraud and conspiracies to commit bank fraud. Over the last 10 days, prosecutors have outlined an elaborate scheme, arguing that Manafort used offshore accounts and shell companies to avoid millions in U.S....

The funder of hit films Avatar and the Life of Pi is being sued by investors who lost money on what were later declared to be taxavoidanceschemes by the UK authorities ... It denies that they were intended as taxavoidanceschemes and is currently ......

Bankers, sports stars and celebrities including Andrew Lloyd Webber are suing a London finance firm for £200million over a film-related tax relief schemeHMRC later made illegal ... Andrew Lloyd Webber is among hundreds of investors in a controversial taxavoidancescheme now suing for millions over alleged poor advice....

The most recent report, published by DailyMaverick last week, details how Moyane had allegedly aided Oakbay to avoidtax, and facilitated the illegal payment of value-added tax (VAT) refunds to the controversial Gupta family ...Sars chief Tom Moyane’s nephew linked to plum R220m tax debt collection contract ... He further warned that season Sars had become aware of schemes used to avoiding pay tax....

It argues that a rate reduction would incentivise investors to take returns of capital gains rather than income and "may spawn" economically inefficient schemes to disguise income as capital gains for tax purposes ... And, if all else fails, then a tax advantage can be removed by the General Anti-AvoidanceRule (GAAR) where it was "reasonable to consider" that something was done primarily to achieve a tax advantage....

Tax accountants and bookkeepers testified for several days about Manafort’s schemes to avoidtaxes, and then his long-time partner Rick Gates, who also served as his deputy when Manafort was Trump’s campaign chairman in 2016, took the stand ... What’s extraordinary is the way the trial has pulled back the curtain on offshore taxavoidanceschemes and how they work....

The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed four bills amending laws relating to the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) ... The provisions will allow taxpayers to amend their tax returns in order to rectify errors. They also widen the scope for availing input tax credit ... Under the CompositionScheme, taxpayers can pay a fixed low rate of tax, and avoid the onerous compliance requirements....

... sector is under with the European banking Authority issue, the tax-avoiding letterbox companies the country hosts, its citizenship-selling scheme, its hosting of so many iGaming companies, the EU’s questions about our rule of laws in the area and, of course, the very long shadow that the PanamaPapers continues to cast over the country....

But Gates also gave detailed testimony about how he and Manafort routed millions of dollars through foreign bank accounts in an effort to avoid paying taxes on it. The prosecution alleges that Manafort masterminded the scheme to maintain a lavish lifestyle ... Manafort faces 18 charges of tax and bank fraud predating his time with the campaign....